International Students

International Transcripts and Evaluation

Students who have attended an institution of higher education outside of the United States are strongly encouraged (and may be required) to submit an official “Course-by-Course Evaluation” of their academic credentials. You may use any NACES-member organization to complete the evaluation. NACES-member organizations typically provide us with your official documents and thus separate transcripts may not need to be submitted to our office. The course-by-course evaluation can greatly assist your academic program office in determining any possible course waivers or transfer credits, as applicable.

If you choose not to submit a course-by-course evaluation, you must provide us with official academic transcripts and marks sheets from all post-secondary work, as well as an official English translation (if applicable). If your institution does not provide more than one official document, a certified, notarized copy of your transcripts is required.

It is recognized that educational systems in other countries differ from that of the United States. Generally, a first university degree can be considered as comparable to its US counterpart, provided that the degree was earned at an institution that is officially recognized by its country's Ministry of Education. The comparability of international course work and degrees will be determined exclusively by Suffolk University's Office of Graduate Admission.

English Proficiency Requirement

Proficiency in English is required of all international applicants. Applicants whose native language is not English must submit official test scores from one of the following exams:

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TOEFL examination is given in internet-based (iBT) and paper-based formats. A minimumTOEFL score of 80 in the iBT scoring system (with no subscore lower than 17) or 550 on the paper-based is required to be considered for full admission. Suffolk University's code for TOEFL test scores is 3771.

International English Language Testing System test (IELTS). A minimumscore of 6.5 (with no subscore below 6.0) is required to be considered for full admission

You must have an officialcopy of the test result sent directly from the testing service. English-proficiency test scores are also a consideration in the awarding of merit fellowships. Scores are valid for two (2) years from the date the exam is taken.

Applicants are exempt from submitting the TOEFL/IELTS/PTE-Academic if:

They have received a degree from an accredited college or university in the US within the last two (2) years
-or-

They are permanent residents of the US (and must submit a copy of the Permanent Resident card, front and back)
-or-

Their first/native language is English and they are from one of the following countries: